The present invention relates generally to golf balls and, in particular, to golf balls having a transparent or translucent covering and bearing textual, alphanumeric, or graphic indicia visible through the transparent or translucent covering.
Golf balls have traditionally been made by bonding a cover about a resilient core. The cover is either compression molded from two half shells or is injection molded about the resilient core. Until about the mid-1960's, most golf ball covers were usually made of balata, a natural resin. However, since that time a golf ball cover material made of a synthetic resin sold under the trademark SURLYN by E. I. DuPont de Nemours has captured the vast majority of the market.
Today, golf balls are typically made with a cover material molded about a core, as mentioned, with the core consisting either of a wound core or a solid core. Irrespective of the golf ball construction or the composition of the cover, it is customary in the art to apply a finish to the surface of the golf ball cover. The finishing process is an elaborate, complicated and highly developed process. A customary painting operation involves sandblasting the surface of the cover, washing, drying, and then in successive steps, applying a primer, drying the primer, applying a first white coat, drying the first coat, applying a second white coat, drying the second white coat, stamping a trademark and numbers, and then finishing with a clear finish coat. Despite the elaborate manufacturing process, some manufacturers still have some wearing of the paint surface, especially after extensive use of the ball. In many cases, the wearing can become so extensive or acute as to obliterate the trademark or identifying numeral rendering identification of a player's particular ball difficult, if not impossible.
Numerous ball configurations are known in the art which attempt to display some type of indicia on the ball in a manner which is protected from wear. For example, in 1925, U.S. Pat. No. 1,547,339 disclosed that it is known to sew some type of indicia, such as names, initials, advertisement, or trade devices onto the cover of the ball prior to manufacture of the ball. Use of the threaded indicia was long lasting and did not easily wear. Obviously, threaded messages are impractical in a golf ball type arrangement. Alternatively, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,436,028, issued in 1922, it was disclosed that it is known to incorporate some type of graphic design in a homogenous structure used to make rubber playing balls. In this patent, a fabric design is applied to the article while the rubber is in an unvulcanized condition, and during vulcanization the fabric becomes embedded in the surface and integrally united therewith. While this may be utilized as a means for marking the resilient cores of golf balls, it only adds to the complexity and expense of the manufacturing process and is not, therefore, desirable for use in golf ball manufacturing. Recently, U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,386 disclosed that it is advantageous to stamp identifying indicia directly on the core such that it can be seen through a transparent fluorescent material used to cover the core. This patent acknowledges that by providing the identifying indicia directly on the core and underneath the fluorescent transparent cover, a long lasting and relatively permanent retention of a trademark and identification number or other markings put on the ball is achieved. This patent, however, teaches that the identifying indicia must be stamped directly onto the golf ball core. The direct stamping method disclosed by this patent, however, is prone to the ordinary difficulties associated with printing on a curvilinear surface, namely higher rates of errors in the printing process through incomplete transfer of the image onto the round surface.
Accordingly, a need has been recognized to provide a new type of golf ball which utilizes and employs an indicia-bearing layer interdisposed between the core and the cover of the ball, the cover being transparent or translucent to permit viewing of the indicia through the golf ball cover.